Guarding the Nest or Just Posing?

There is a ledge in the brick above the patio door, and every year robins attempt to build nests there.  We have given up discouraging them, and one couple came back this year, adding to the nest that was already in the corner.  They come and go without being discouraged or afraid when we are on the patio.  (I think that they are less afraid of us than of the large numbers of predatory magpies that inhabit the long row of evergreen trees to the northeast.)  We've decided that this is the father, and he often stands guard somewhere near the nest.  Yesterday morning, in the drizzle, he was posing perched on the Earth Box, next to the flowering chives.  Nice pose!  Now, if we just can be lucky enough to be around when the babies fly away.  Last year, it was quite a show.  The last little chick teetered on the edge of the nest, finally took off, and took a loopy flight to the nearest evergreen tree, doing some real acrobatics to hang on to a limb.  Ah, spring!

Ruining the Robbing Robin's Raids on the Raspberries

 There are many, many robins who live in the trees that are around our house to the north, northeast, and south.  They are usually very busy on the lawn, hopping around, listening for worms, and "harvesting" them.  However, they must get tired of the wormy diet, because robins love raspberries.  They exhibit great subterfuge, running almost hidden under the branches, and jumping up to bite the succulent berries.  Time for action.
So...Ron's first step was to hang shiny strips of special glittering foil from the wires defining the row
 That helped, but we could still walk out by the raspberries and surprise one or two robins not minding their business as we'd like.  So the bogus owl, mounted on a pole, with wings that flap in the breeze was the second attempt to discourage the robin robbers.

 That seemed not to be enough, so the next step was to use a motion-sensor rattlesnake along the path that the robins like to frequent.  Helped, but not efficient, in that we would need a half dozen to police this side of the patch.  Now, there is another owl, waiting to be mounted -how much pretend can we do?

However, the raspberries are beginning to come on quite well - Ron picked this morning, and our tiny patch gave about 1-1/2 quarts.  And they are just starting.  Perhaps there will be enough for the freezer, and an occasional robin, too?  If they dare, that is.